Week 6: BioTech & Art

I actually had a difficult time getting through some of this week’s material — specifically the material focusing on Kathy High’s contributions to BioArt as discussed in Part III of Professor Vesna’s lecture. Having always been semi-opposed to animal testing (depending upon the ethical necessity for it), I found it a little difficult to view pictures of her work with transgenic rats in her “Embracing Animal” exhibit. When researching the exhibit further and attempting to learn more about her “HLA-B27 model rats,” I saw that High’s exhibit was defined as “a lab environment for observation, and experimental playground for people to feel the tension of exchanges, transitions and trans-play.” (KathyHigh.com — Project: “Embracing Animal”)

"Embracing Animal" Exhibit (#1)

http://kathyhigh.com/project-embracing-animal.html

"Embracing Animal" Exhibit (#10)

http://kathyhigh.com/project-embracing-animal.html

While I appreciate High’s “empathetic treatment” of rats (i.e. providing them with good food, adequate play time and lots of human attention), I also find it difficult to watch animals being pent up in cages and so clearly out of their element (Vesna, “Lecture: 5BioArt Pt3”). Personally, I admire her efforts to learn more about autoimmune diseases using these transgenic rats; however, I don’t necessarily agree with the need to feature this research as a visual spectacle — with the intention of displaying images of theses animals during their “moments of death and dying” (KathyHigh.com — Project: “HLA-B27”). While some people may be interested in seeing such images, I found some of these images to be a little disrespectful to that particular animal’s life — which was sacrificed in the name of biological research to prolong human life. Regardless, I will continue to research her work to make myself as informed as possible on this matter before developing any further judgements of her research. 

"HLA-B27" Rats

http://kathyhigh.com/project-HLA-B27.html  

This notion of displaying biological research concerning transgenic animals as a “visual spectacle” made me think about the upcoming movie, Jurassic World. While the movie is clearly a fictional film (in addition to the previous Jurassic Park films released by Universal Pictures), I think that it clearly demonstrates the consequences of putting transgenic research on display. In the movie, scientists open up a theme park which displays genetically-modified dinosaurs and most recently, genetically-modified hybrids — but in the end, the dinosaurs outsmart the humans and thus, catastrophe ensues.

Jurassic World: Cover Art
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369610/

Here’s the trailer for Universal Pictures’ Jurassic World:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFinNxS5KN4

While it’s difficult to place limits on human research (especially when it comes to research in the name of human health), it’s becomes even more difficult when other life forms are involved. I think that BioArt will always be a controversial topic, but I think that the restrictions (or lack thereof) concerning the display of such art/research is just as controversial.

WORKS CITED

"Jurassic World: Cover Art.” IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 8 May 2015.

"Jurassic World - Official Trailer (HD)." YouTube. Universal Pictures, 25 Nov. 2014. Web. 8 May 2015.

"Kathy High: Project HLA-B27." Kathy High: Visual/media Artist, Independent Curator, Educator. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 May 2015.

"Kathy High: Project Embrace Animal." Kathy High: Visual/media Artist, Independent Curator, Educator. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 May 2015.

Kathy High Research. Digital Images. KathyHigh.Com. Web. 8 May 2015. 

Vesna, Victoria. “5BioArt Pt3.” UCOnlineProgram. YouTube. 17 May 2012. Web. 8 May 2015